Nokia updates classic comeback mobe 3310 Only one phone from the "New Nokia" (aka HMD Global) has made any impact so far, and sadly for the startup's ambitions of returning the brand to market leadership, it's the remodelled classic, the 3310. The Nokia 3310 was reintroduced to the world at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona generating enviable amounts of nostalgic …
Oh, nasty of them. Our company enforces a security policy if you connect to the exchange server which disables and blocks pop3/smtp so no way in hell would I ever use my own phone for company mail as it would stop me getting my own stuff. Although they do have BYOD, they accept that people who must have on the road company mail access can have a company phone too.
> So if it's now 3G enabled, will it have a web browser and email?
Honestly I am not fussed, although it apparently has a web browser (see link below). If it has Bluetooth tethering, I am in for it. I can hook it up to a tablet, laptop or other device for web browsing, emai, apps, etc... depending on what features I need.
I tend to prefer having multiple devices optimised for a certain set of jobs, rather than a single one that does everything in a mediocre fashion (especially if it is expensive and fragile, like my smartphone). The long standby time is a plus as well quite frankly.
It apparently even supports dual sim!
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3310_%282017%29-8597.php
EDIT:
Supposedly it has the Opera web browser, although no support for tethering according to the below link (which is for the EDGE/2.5G model):
http://www.mobilegeeks.com/article/nokia-3310-hands-retro-fun-mwc-2017/
Quite frankly, if they make a version with tethering, it will be my next phone. All the benefits of the old mobile phone (hopefully just as unbreakable), with the ability to use it as a modem with any other more advanced device I have.
Plenty of phones from Nokia (and other manufacturers) had web and email capabilities, and small screens. Not so much of a problem back in the day, but now web design has moved on (I'll leave it for you to decide if it's moved on for the better or worse) shoehorning all the content from modern websites into such a small screen could be a painful experience.
Buy worlds best phone company for 7 billion dollaroonies, Halt their projects to build Android phones. Make them build crappy Microsoft Lumia phones, luckily the worlds eyes aren't painted on and no one bought them. Flail around for a few years pretending everything is going fine. Then produce a remodelled 17 year old phone and give it 3G and ANDROID. Unrelenting innovation from MS as always.
Maybe you missed it right there in the article but this has NOTHING to do with MS. The Nokia brand (and only the brand it seems) is now held by HMD Global oy. This company seems to have been sprouted directly from former Nokia by managers unhappy with selling to Microsoft and with the soul purpose of bringing Nokia back as a phone manufacturer (but without doing everything inhouse anymore).
The new 3310 is basically just a marketing stunt to get attention and let the world know Nokia still exists as a brand. And it has been rather effective too.
If only this was available 12 months ago.
Given the imminent (at the time) end of the 2G networks here, I gave my dad an entry level smartphone last christmas to replace his ancient feature phone. He's turned data off and doesn't use any of its smart features, in fact they only manage to confuse him.
Maybe if it had 3G (or even 4G), and tethering. And email and web browsing. And a touchscreen. Maybe a bigger touchscreen. And maybe lose the buttons. And make it thinner and wider. Perhaps with a faster processor. And run android.
NO.
Either one buys a smartphone (aka "phone") like an iPhone or Android, or one buys a dumbphone (aka not sure what). Feature creep is exactly what this nokia thing is trying to get away from. A simple phone for sending/receving texts and making phone calls. It's USPs are 1) the retro factor and 2) the incredibly long battery life.
Tethering (via BT) makes sense as a feature on a phone like this - even more important if 2G is actually going EOL at any time soon (I'm not holding my breath though).
I have had feature phones with tethering and they actually make a great deal of sense - because they enable a load of otherwise disconnected devices to connect up easily...
It's also financially advantageous to have just the one SIM.
"...easily confused relatives"
Unfortunately, any & every mobile can be confusing for some. No matter how simple the interface, it's still a mobile phone, and therefore something to be feared.
Residents of care homes can sometimes find themselves cut-off from the outside world if they have no landline and yet are unable to use a mobile (smartphone or dumb).
A brilliant recent "invention" was a phone that looks and behaves exactly like an old tethered phone - one that in days gone by would have sat on a table in the hall or at the bottom of the stairs.
This baby contains a SIM instead of being wired to the phone network, but is instantly familiar to the older generation. Genius.
A blatent copy/paste job of a post I made to another article yesterday:
Despite (or actually because) I do a lot of low level android work (by choice), I bought a 'new' Nokia E6 symbian, literally just 2 weeks ago. It sucks that the SSL is out of date, but it still has GPS and OVI maps, and the battery lasts forever.
Give me the tablets for computer stuff, but for something that may be needed in an emergency, I want something that works, with a physical keyboard and good battery life, so I can use it in the dark and the rain, and not have to worry about all the shit we generally have to concern us with in the day job.
Sorry, touch screen androids or iphones don't cut it.
*Proud owner of new Nokia E6-00, purchased September 2017. RIP Nokia. *
I'm still using the E6 I bought back in 2011 (charge still lasts a week on regular use) and recently bought another one as backup just in case. Hands down the best phone I've ever used for my needs (which amounts to reading and writing text and emails, plus phone calls*). Nokia/OVI maps still brilliant (although maps slowly being outdated of course, but great to have the entirety of europe's roads on the SD card).
Nothing I've ever used since has remotely come close. For all of you who may have thought the QWERTY keyboard on the blackberries were sadly missed, the keyboard on the E6 is a thing of utter beauty. Touch-typing on a keyboard that's barely more than 2" wide shouldn't be possible but the E6 made it dead easy. Typing on a touchscreen twice the size I find next to impossible at any reasonable speed.
Might pick up one of the nu-3310's out of curiosity as a not-too-bad-if-I-lose-it phone as I like the cut of HMDs jib, and I'm hoping for custom ROMs/AOSP on an HMD handset for the missus' new phone...
* Count me as one of those weird users who never really saw the draw of "apps" nor have any interest in social media. The only social network I'm a part of has several beer pumps, and to quote TDM "It’s an amazing platform for trumpeting my half-baked politics and making vague statements about being unhappy so my friends feel obliged to pay me some attention".
Thank-you! So I'm not mad after all (unless you are too!)
I've been using an E63 for many years, but earlier this month treated myself to an upgrade! :-)
Putty for ssh, and UC browser are just about the only add-ons I use.
And you are spot on regarding the keyboard, and size generally. I think iphones and android phones are too big, yet too small for proper use, yet with the nokia you can do everything one handed!
Thank you! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with this complaint. My needs are similar:
E-mail, texts, GPS/maps, the occasional phone call. My app use is mostly for things like finding/paying for parking, and reading news/articles/books. I technically do use 'social media', but they're almost always apps designed to facilitate old-fashioned, live, in-person meetings around beer pumps. So even my social media consumption is text-based with still photos to elaborate/illustrate. I spend an ungodly amount of time on subways so easy, one-handed use is a definite plus, as is a battery that can handle 18 hours of this kind of use.
I find it a little difficult to believe that the market for this is so small it can't support even ONE phone like an updated E6 with a slightly taller screen.
Ironically, the ONLY time in my life I was on top of Facebook enough to keep my friends happy was when I had a Blackberry 9900. Their Facebook app aligned everything in ONE easy-to-read column so I could engage and not become lost as a result of the inevitable interruptions, lol.
Personally I don't think we're asking for very much. Yet all indications are that we clearly are. Sad, really.
This thread of how people want it to be different is depressing.
It is what it is, even when the 3310 was new it wasn't the leading edge. I remember reviewing it and coming to the conclusion that it was way more than the sum of it's parts. It was a nice balance of phone and features and well implemented. Snake and removable covers were interesting novelties.
I can see a model were people have a good, well made dumb phone for voice and a phablet/tablet for everything else.
"I can see a model were people have a good, well made dumb phone for voice and a phablet/tablet for everything else."
Not going to happen. People just don't use voice enough to justify a second device these days.
Also, all the people wanging on about battery life - the iPhone 7 has a 14 hour talk time and the S8 20 hours compared to the 6.5 quoted here. It only has a long battery life IF YOU DON'T USE IT FOR VOICE! and voice is its only feature...
"Also, all the people wanging on about battery life - the iPhone 7 has a 14 hour talk time and the S8 20 hours compared to the 6.5 quoted here. It only has a long battery life IF YOU DON'T USE IT FOR VOICE! and voice is its only feature..."
...and as you say, people don't use voice that much these days, but there are times when it is necessary, even critical. So the "total" talk time is not relevant. What is is whether it still has any left. So standby time is of far more use.
I'm not even sure there's a point in specifying talk-time for a smart-phone. Video playback time,would be more useful.
I'd be tempted to get one as a car-glovebox phone, but it's way too expensive. A Nokia 105 is under £20
Because in the current year, some places in the world have totally phased out the 2G network. The same goes for analog tv, FM radio and other 'primitive technologies'.
3G support is needed, otherwise the phone is a worthless brick. Maybe you could use it as a clock or calculator, or use the lousy VGA camera for photography, but that's all.
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